#1 of 26: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Almost everyone tries to outrun their past or at least part of their past. IN Joshilyn Jackson's The Girl Who Stopped Swimming the main character Laurel has a very unusual past that will not stay dead - literally. She sees ghosts. Specifically of her Uncle Marty who was accidentally killed on a hunting trip with her father, herself and her younger sister Thalia. The book starts with Laurel waking in the middle of the night to see the ghost of her daughter's friend Molly in her bedroom. Molly leads Laurel to her window and Laurel sees a body sunken to the bottom of the pool. Somehow Molly was in their backyard in the middle of the night and because of that Laurel now has to dredge up the past and her family in order to figure out what happened to the girl who stopped swimming.

Usually I will know within the first 5-10 pages if I like a book and if it is worth it to keep reading. With this book the first chapter was all about Laurel seeing Molly's ghost so it caught my attention from the first page. There was a lot of description of people, places and Laurel's past (especially about her Uncle Marty who was the very first ghost she ever saw) that at the time I was reading I thought to be not needed, too much information. However, when I got to the end I realized all of the descriptions and blasts to Laurel's past were needed. The reader needed to understand that this story was not just about the untimely death of a young girl but also a story about finding the truth about yourself and your past through your past because no matter how far or fast you run, your past will always find you.

Jackson does a very nice job of blending the past with the present and not dwelling too much on either one. Many of her fans have said this is one of her weakest works but since I don't have anything to compare it to it was very good in my eyes. It wasn't a blow your mind type book like Pride and Prejudice (say what you will I love Jane Austen) but it was worth my time and it gets the #1 spot in my list of 26 books to read in 2011 and I am very happy with that decision.

My rating for this book will be 3.5 out of 5. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a little mystery, a little family drama, and a little self discovery packed into 300 pages. Enjoy!